Wood planers and devices for improving upon the operational efficiency of such planers are well represented in the prior art. For example:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,913,642 issued on Oct. 21, 1975 to Donald C. Porter discloses a Wood Cutting Apparatus. An apparatus for cutting patterns on a wooden surface to stimulate a hand-hewn surface such as might have been made with an adz. The apparatus provides for feeding, aligning and holding an elongated piece of wood for cutting a pattern on the surface and a blower-suction arrangement for removing sawdust and wood chips. A plurality of rotatable cutting blades are mounted in a rotatable casing. Each rotatable cutting blades are mounted to cut the surface of the wood while the rotatable blade is being rotated in the rotating casing to produce a random pattern on the surface of the wood.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,204 issued on Apr. 3, 1984 to Robert L. Bartlett, subsequently assigned to Shopsmith, Inc., discloses a Planter Mounting System wherein a planer of the type adapted to be mounted on and driven by a multipurpose woodworking tool includes a housing, a rotating blade member, and a table mounted beneath the blade member and vertically displaceable relative thereto by a plurality of jack screws. The jack screws carry connector nuts having outer members attached to the table which allow relative sideward movement between the table and screws to minimize table binding. A chain drive engages the jack screws and includes an idler sprocket which can be adjusted to allow adjustment of an individual jack screw to level the table. First and second roller assemblies upstream and downstream of the blade member are rotatably mounted on the housing and are vertically displaceable; the roller assemblies are driven by a single, fixed drive sprocket which is capable of rotating the rollers throughout a range of vertical displacement. A chip removal hood is mounted on the housing and has an exhaust nozzle adapted to receive a hose of a vacuum cleaner to draw chips through the hood. A pair of clamping members are attached to side walls so that the blade member and an output shaft of a head stock of the woodworking tool are coaxial, whereby a coupling member may be used to transmit rotary power there between. A switching device includes a master switch that controls the flow of electric current to both the head stock and the electric motor driving the feed mechanism, and includes a key-operated locking mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,859 issued on Dec. 4, 1984 to James Krogstad et al, subsequently assigned to Shopsmith, Inc., discloses aPlaner Chip Removal System wherein a planer is adapted to be mounted on a multipurpose woodworking tool which includes a housing, a rotating blade driven by the head stock of the tool, and a vertically displaceable table mounted beneath the blade. The table is supported by a plurality of jack screws mounted on the housing and attached to the table by connector nuts which eliminate binding as the table is raised or lowered. The jack screws are driven by a chain drive having an adjustable idler sprocket which permits the chain to be disengaged from a selected jack screw to allow it to be rotated to level the table. Vertically displaceable feed roller assemblies are attached to the housing and each includes a sprocket meshing with a common drive sprocket with sufficient, engagement to be driven throughout the vertical displacement of the rollers. A chip removal hood is mounted on the housing and has an exhaust nozzle adapted to receive a vacuum cleaner hose. The planer is releasably mounted to the woodworking tool by a pair of clamps. A switching device includes a master switch controlling the power to both the head stock and an electric motor driving the drive sprocket; a key-operated mechanism locks the switch in an open position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,816 issued on Nov. 7, 1995 to William S. Bellew et al., subsequently assigned to Ryobi North American, discloses a Portable Planer With Adjustable Chip Deflector wherein a portable planer for use by a user to cut chips or material from a workpiece is disclosed. The portable planer includes a chip deflector moveably attached to a housing of the portable planer. The nozzle can be oriented with respect to the housing such that chips expelled from the portable planer are directed away from the user and downwardly toward a floor.
Alternatively, the chip deflector can be reoriented with respect to the housing so that a collector bag or vacuum hose can be attached to the nozzle whereby chips are collected in an enclosed container rather than being freely blown. Ideally, the nozzle is swivelably attached to the housing to permit the selected positioning of the nozzle relative to the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,766 issued on Aug. 24, 1999 to Edward P. Iverson discloses a Dust Collector. A fixed torpedo mounted in the center of a funnel assembly for a dust collector removes residue caused by a machining practice applied to a work piece, with enhanced flow characteristics due to the fixed torpedo of a dual cone shape fixedly secured in the funnel.
As can be seen from the afore cited prior art, such art is absent disclosure and design for introducing a forced air stream into a chip capturing device to facilitate enhanced transport and removal of debris associated with normal wood planer operations. Such debris would include, without limitation, wood chips and shavings. The present invention addresses this deficiency by introducing a forced air stream to its improved chip capturing device and further allows for the introduction of debris to and through a tubular shaped chip transport with transported debris finally disposed in a containment vessel suitable for recycling or disposal purposes.